Vegetarian Black Bean Burgers

2-3 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped red onions
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely copped red peppers (other peppers will do, but wanted the sweetness from red peppers)
1/2 cup finely chopped mushrooms (I used cremeni)
4 cloves of garlic minced
1-2 tsp of Agave Nector (natural sweetner)
4 teaspoons dijon mustard
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons ground chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
1 and 1/2 cups black beans
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat
Add onions, carrots, peppers and mushrooms. Saute for 4-5 minutes until softened.
Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds.
Add agave nector, mustard, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and stir to combine.

Remove vegetables from heat and set aside to cool. Once cool enough to handle, place the vegetables into a food processor with the black beans and bread crumbs and pulse a few times to combine.

Form the mixture into patties. Place them on aluminum foil lined baking sheet lightly coated with some oil or cooking spray and bake for 15 minutes on one side and then turn over for another 5 minutes. Oven should be set to 450°. The burgers will hold together, but they are slightly mushy and can crumble if handled too much.

Place them on a whole wheat hamburger bun using a spatula and top with your favorite burger toppings. I served this with a broccoli cole slaw made with a yogurt/mustard dressing.

Serving Size: Makes 4

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=4186256

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user HANSRICO.